The people in charge at ArenaNet have always made it their mission with Guild Wars to address current issues in the genre and create special MMO experiences. What the evolution of online role-playing games could mean for Guild Wars 3 can already be read between the lines. MeinMMO editor and MMORPG expert Karsten Scholz explains the details.
What goal has ArenaNet always pursued? Since its founding in 2000, the studio, built by three former Blizzard veterans Mike O’Brien, Jeff Strain, and Patrick Wyatt, has always had a unique approach to developing a new MMO.
One must determine what currently annoys players about the status quo of the genre, what frustrates them. Then one deals with how to solve these most urgent problems to advance the genre and provide a special gaming experience.
In developing Guild Wars, for example, ArenaNet focused on offering an MMO that does not require a monthly subscription but can still be successful. This was only achievable because they found innovative solutions for the technical framework that made the operation of the MMORPG more efficient and cost-effective than it was for the competition at that time.
The first Guild Wars wasn’t a topic for Karsten initially, as he was stuck in Azeroth for several years starting in 2005. However, he played the successor Guild Wars 2 much longer, and even today he occasionally stops by Tyria.
Guild Wars 2, on the other hand, refuses the vertical character progression of other MMORPGs, with constantly increasing equipment levels. Instead, it focuses on experiencing the story, exploring the game world, and collecting achievements. Ideally, all content should be available to as many players as possible. Thus, it established itself as the perfect MMO for casual players, MMORPG enthusiasts with little time, soloists, and collectors.
The Evolution of the MMO in 2026
What could the new evolution look like? The MMORPG genre currently has many major issues. Guild Wars 3 would address one of the biggest current pain points (there are hardly any new, ambitious MMORPGs from the West) simply by appearing. How important that would already be for many genre fans is shown by our survey about the MMORPGs of the future that you are most looking forward to.
From the previous announcements and developer statements, I can already sense the direction they might go with Guild Wars 3. Personally, I expect Guild Wars 3 to follow the current trend of “MMO Lite,” which is currently being heavily pushed by studios from Asia.
What is an MMO Lite? Already in the 2010s, some developers attempted to apply the service blueprint of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft to other genres, without taking on the enormous risk of MMORPG development or having to shoulder the high costs of a persistent MMO world.
Destiny from 2014 is one of the forefathers of the “MMO Lite” with its shared-world concept. Later, alongside Destiny 2, games like The Division (2016) and Anthem (2019) followed. In recent years, there have been more manifestations in the survival or cozy building genre, such as Palia or Dune: Awakening.
Asian games like Where Winds Meet and Honor of Kings: World are currently further heating up this trend, delivering their own interpretations of MMO Lite.
What these MMO Lite often have in common: Players meet in hub areas and in small numbers in the world. It never really gets “Massively.” The instanced content like dungeons, raids, and PvP tends to be comparatively small and focused. Features like guilds, chats, and trading form the social glue that aims to lure players back into the world repeatedly.
It fits that upcoming MMORPGs like Chrono Odyssey and ArcheAge Chronicles place much greater emphasis on PvE content for solo players and small groups than was the case with earlier MMOs from Asia. Why there are good reasons today for the development of “MMO Lite” variants, I answered in the following article:
How does Guild Wars 3 fit into this? In my view, there are several indications that Guild Wars 3 will pursue an “MMO Lite” approach:
- Guild Wars 3 focuses heavily on the region Orr, which is a comparably small part of the world that we know from the other installments.
- This rather small scope fits well with the fact that Guild Wars 3 cannot have been in full production for long, yet they want to conduct a beta as early as Fall 2027.
- We first learned about Guild Wars 3 from NCSoft in March 2024, and it was stated that the start of development had not yet been finalized. Developing a full-fledged MMORPG in three to four years: THAT would really be super efficient by today’s standards.
- The new action combat system is supposed to incorporate the movement momentum of the character, allowing one to use the momentum of a maneuver to increase the damage of a subsequent attack. Additionally, it seems possible to sever specific body parts from opponents. This sounds very atypical for an MMORPG and would likely be challenging to implement in large-scale battles.
- Guild Wars 3 describes itself on the official website as an action-adventure MMORPG that can be played well solo or with a group of adventurers. However, there are no hints of any “Massively” focus content that dozens or hundreds of players would participate in.
- Furthermore, a statement from NCSoft this month fits in with the idea that Guild Wars 3 – unlike Aion 2 – is supposed to cater more to solo players and smaller groups.
Moreover, it fits that Guild Wars 3 is to be released not only on PC but also on PlayStation 5. We have already noted in the past that MMO developers change their focus as soon as they want to address a console audience: away from massively multiplayer towards action role-playing games that can optionally be played cooperatively with others.
What are your expectations for the evolution of the MMO? Feel free to share in the comments!
Right after the announcement, I actually wrote to the ArenaNet people and asked exactly about this MMO Lite approach, the short development time, and other points. As soon as the answers land with me, you will hear it first. Until then, let’s look forward together to a hopefully really good MMORPG: Guild Wars 3 has been announced and my wife is dancing with joy in circles
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